University of Oregon
Desert Heat Classic
Sprinters Turn Up the Heat in the Desert
04/28/18 | Track and Field
Oregon track and field's top sprinters put on a show at the Desert Heat Classic in Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday night, winning six sprint events while breaking facility records and shaking up both the 2018 NCAA top-10 and UO all-time top-10 lists.
Another group of Ducks finished strong in tough weather conditions at the OSU High Performance Meet in Corvallis, Ore., earlier on Saturday as Oregon wrapped up another split-squad weekend on the road.
How it Happened - Desert Heat Classic: Reigning Pac-12 champion Alaysha Johnson got the Ducks' night in Tucson off to a blazing start, winning the 100-meter hurdles in a facility record and season-best 12.75 seconds. Johnson's time put her in the top 10 in the NCAA this season, and is just .06 seconds off her own school record of 12.69. Freshman Kaylah Robinson strengthened her hold on the No. 5 spot in Oregon history, finishing fifth in the 100 hurdles in 13.50, and Rhesa Foster ran a wind-legal PR 14.14.
Sophomore Braxton Canady (below) made history of his own in the 110-meter hurdles, winning in a lifetime-best 13.79 to take over the No. 6 spot all-time at Oregon.
Oregon dominated the men's and women's 4x100-meter relays shortly after the hurdles. Johnson, Lauren Rain Williams, Jasmin Reed and Ariana Washington won the women's race in 42.70, top five in the nation this season and fourth-best in Oregon history. A second team of Makenzie Dunmore, Venessa D'Arpino, Briyahna DesRosiers and Shae Anderson took second in 43.30, good for ninth on the UO all-time list. Both squads broke the previous facility record of 43.43, set by UCLA in 2004.
Damarcus Simpson, Cravon Gillespie, Julius Shellmire and Rieker Daniel followed with a win on the men's side in 39.05, moving themselves to the No. 2 spot all-time at Oregon as well as into the top 10 in the NCAA in 2018. Canady, Spenser Schmidt, Orwin Emilien and Cameron Stone followed in 39.95, giving the Ducks another 1-2 finish.
The Women of Oregon took the 100 meters by storm, with Ducks finishing second through sixth. Dunmore led the way in 11.25, followed by Williams (11.29), Washington (11.31), Reed (11.42), and D'Arpino (11.48). Dunmore, Williams and Reed took over the No. 8, No. 9 and No. 10 spots, respectively, in Oregon history, and Washington's career-best of 11.01 (2016) ranks sixth all-time. Schmidt (10.45), Daniel (10.49) and Shellmire (10.52) all ran wind-legal personal-bests to finish 2-3-4 in the men's 100 meters.
The UO women came back shortly after with an even more dominant showing in the 200 meters, taking the top six spots. Williams (below) won in a wind-legal PR 22.51, a facility record, top-five time in the nation this season and No. 5 mark all-time at Oregon. Williams was chased by Washington (22.92), Johnson (23.07), D'Arpino (23.21), Reed (23.30) and Briyahna DesRosiers.
Another UO top-10 mark fell in Oregon's final event in Tucson: the men's 200 meters. Junior Cravon Gillespie took second in 20.64, moving into a tie for sixth in program history. Daniel (below) was right behind in 20.83, a huge lifetime-best and just .01 shy of cracking the UO top-10 list.
Sophomore Jonathan Harvey ran a big lifetime-best 51.11 to win the men's 400-meter hurdles and move up into the top 30 in the nation this season. Schmidt won the Ducks' lone field event in Tucson, taking the men's long jump with a top leap of 24 feet, two-and-a-half inches (7.38 meters).
OSU High Performance Meet: A smaller group of throwers, sprinters and jumpers finished up in Corvallis on Saturday with solid marks despite adverse weather conditions. Junior Ben Milligan (below) made a move in the UO record book, clearing a lifetime-best 7-2.5 (2.20m) to win the men's high jump and put himself alone in fifth all-time at Oregon.
Freshman Myles Webb performed well in the men's sprints, running a pair of wind-aided personal-bests to win the 200 meters (21.31) and take second in the 100 meters (10.45).
Khadejah Jackson won the 100-meter hurdles in 14.20, and Kylee O'Connor was second in a PR 14.21. O'Connor came back later to win the 400-meter hurdles in 1:00.38, followed by Jackson (1:01.14) and Madi Greenleaf (1:01.48) in a 1-2-3 UO finish. Greenleaf ran a PR 14.86 in the 100 hurdles.
Freshman Keira McCarrell reached 153-10 (46.79m) to take second in the javelin, and redshirt freshman Alexis Rigmaiden (below) threw a big season-best of 150-3 (45.80m) to finish third. JoJo Ananouko also recorded a season-best at 138-6 (42.22m). Maddie Rabing (47-6.5/14.49m) and Kiana Phelps (46-8.75/14.24m) finished 4-5 in the women's shot put, and Sebastian Barajas (54-9.25/16.69m) was fourth in the men's shot put.
What it Means: A weekend in which head coach Robert Johnson was looking for some "sharpening and fine-tuning" from the Ducks turned out to be much more than that, as the Ducks' sprinters made a big statement in Tucson while attacking the UO record books and NCAA descending lists. Oregon also got strong performances out of its contingent in Corvallis, and the Ducks appear to be gaining momentum as postseason competition looms in the coming weeks.
Notable: Emilien (21.10), Simpson (21.29), Stone (21.36) and Shellmire (21.46) all ran PRs in the men's 200 meters … Johnson remains the only Duck to break the 12.80 mark in the 100-meter hurdles … Johnson's time of 12.75 broke the Roy P. Drachman Stadium facility record of 12.77, set by Nia Ali in 2011 … Wiliams broke the 200 meter facility record of 22.84, set by USC's Jessica Davis in 2011.
Up Next: The Ducks will return to Eugene now to host the Oregon Twilight, which will feature many prominent former Oregon athletes, on Friday, May 4, at historic Hayward Field. Oregon will also have student-athletes in action at the Pac-12 Multi-Event Championships in Stanford, Calif., before the rest of the Ducks head there the following weekend for the Pac-12 Championships.
Players Mentioned
